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Thanquol
Grey Seer Thanquol is a grey-furred horned Skaven sorceror of phenomenal power, an expert in the Dark Arts of Magic, a Scholar in the study of the Man-things, and a mastermind of subterfuge and deceit. Arguably one of the most talented and ingenious minds in the entire Under-Empire, Thanquol is a Skaven sorceror of great knowledge and influence, a skilled diplomat and politician, and a considerably wealthy Skaven sorceror within the Order of the Grey Seers. Along with his title as Grey Seer, Thanquol is one of the Council of Thirteens most favoured of messenger and ambassador, representing the Council of Thirteens wishes and demands on his numerous missions into different parts of the Under-Empire, assisting or taking command of an expedition to find a lost artefact or to command an invasion force attacking an enemy city. A Skaven of great cunning, Thanquol has been at the fore-front of causing misery and mayhem to the enemies of the Skaven race and on some seperate occasions even his own kind, having been the very same Skaven that became the Supreme Commander of the Skaven force invading Nuln , the saviour of the great Clan Moulder city of Hell Pit, the destroyer of the great Skaven city of Under-Altdorf, the killer of the great Lizardmen Prophet of Sotek, and the summoner of the great Khornate Bloodthirster Skarband. Although his exploits were grandious and many, most of them have ended in near complete disastor, as the result of the interference of Thanqouls many enemies, and ironcially even by Thanquols own paranoia and incompetence. After losing much favour, many within Skavendom have marked the Grey Seer as a double-crossing, two-timing, self-intrested Skaven, with many of the Clans all but refusing to make an honest deal with the Sorceror, unless of course, Thanqoul is certain to be obediant with a weapon at his back. But it was Seerlord Kritislik that saw a potential within the young Grey Seer, seeing him having a talent for setting the Priesthoods enemies against each other, which was the only reason he spared Thanqoul on a few seperate occasions. Thanqoul has been noted for having extrodinarily good luck, surviving situations that would have killed the Grey Seer a dozen times over. As a reward for is somewhat successful missions, Thanquol was rewarded a Rat Ogre by the Council, naming him Boneripper -- a name he continues to use for everyone of his Rat Ogre bodyguards. He is also the main nemesis of the two great heroes Gotrek and Felix. History This passage contains Spoilers! Very few knows the true origins of Grey Seer Thanquol, what his preivous Clan was, nor even early records of his first few exploits. All that is certain was the great ambition the young grey-furred ratling had for the future, and the need to grow more powerful and wealthy amongst his many and jealous kin. Like all of his kind, they were born from the many breeder mothers that provides the Under-Empire with an inexhaustable supply of warriors and slaves for the clans. Unlike his brethrens however, he was fortunate and perhaps blessed by the Horned Rat himself to be born with the extremely rare case of having grey-coloured fur and stubs of growing horns. Whether it truely was the will of the Horned Rat to make this ratling his messenger and prophet is uncertain, the only truth worth knowning is the great determintation and greed this Skaven will habour from here on forth. Like his fellow grey-furred brethrens, by the time Thanquols former Clan figured out that one of their own kin was of the legendary Grey Seers, they are ordered by the Council and the Priesthood of the Horned Rat to forfeit the youngling to the Order, and indoctrined him into the Priesthoods beliefs and society. When becoming an initiate into the Order of the Grey Seers, Thanquol became an apprentice to Master Grey Seer Sleekit, along with several other initiates that Thanqoul has a strong rivalry with. Although he is an apprentice to his Master, Thanquol like many of his kind despises his betters, and had always dreamed of the day he would see his Master dead, and take all his worldly possesions. When Master Sleekit's time of doom have finally caught up to him, Thanquol did what any sensible Skaven would have done. He stole his Master's magical Talisman and scurried off into the distance, chittering triumphantly at his pitiful dismay. Thanquol just had enough time to savour the look of disbelief on his Masters face before hundreds of tons of rock and debris fell upon his former Master. With his Master gone, Thanqoul acquired his former Masters staff and talisman and took up the mantle as the new Grey Seer of the Order, and began his long and glorious career as the Council of Thirteens most favoured messenger. 'Supreme Commander of the Invasion of Nuln' After many long years of somewhat faithful service under his Skaven Overlords, Grey Seer Thanqoul has gained a considerable reputation and status amongst his kin as one of the Under-Empires most powerful of sorcerors, and a capable leader of great cunning and intelligence that rivals few amongst his brothers within the Order. Along with his powerful staff and magical talisman, Thanqoul was given a Rat Ogre bodyguard by the Council of Thirteen as a reward for succeding in his numerous missions. Thanqoul was also given new orders to go into the great Imperial City of Nuln and instigate a massive civil war between the Imperial Capital of Altdorf and her sister city of Nuln. This process would be done by assassinating key individuals within the Nuln nobility, by using his puppet, Cheif Magistrate Friz von Halstadt extreme paranoia of mutants to Thanquols advantage. For the better part of the plan, it worked, and soon, he will make his puppet kill the Emperors own brother-in-law to seal the deal and ignite the flames of Civil War. Unfortunately for Thanqoul, his ingenious plan began to suddenly unravel as an unlike duo of warriors entered the Imperial City, and caught wind of his cooperation with Fritz von Halstadt. The two heroes, Gotrek and Felix, was on patrol with the Sewer Watch when they caught the Cheif Magistrate talking to a Skaven in the Sewer networks of Nuln. Fortunately for him, Fritz von Halstadt managed to conceal his identy and ran away from the Sewer Watch before he was caught. His companion, the Skaven messenger however was not so fortunate. Disturbed by this confrontation, and fearing that his plan might be revealed to the Imperial authority, Thanqoul ordered a small contingent of elite Stormvermin infantry to ambush the Sewer Jacks before they caught wind of more of their operations. These warriors were the best of the best within Clan Skab, and the host-leader of this pack was a birth-kin of the Skaven messenger who Gotrek killed and he wanted revenge for his loss. The pack of Stormvermin stalked the Sewer Watch as they made another one of their daily patrols through the tunnels just underneath the Noble Quarter of the city. One group under host-leader Tzarkuel followed the Sewer Watch from behind, with two other detachements following in the parallel tunnels with more of his infantry stationed just up ahead. Host-leader Tzarkuel motioned for his warriors to stop, as he saw that the Sewer Watch began to huddle togather within the passage. Thinking that the Sewer Watch were huddling in fear, he ordered his Stormvermin to be ready for blood-shed. Surprisingly to him however, a Dwarf and a blonde-furred Man-thing charged at his warriors ranks, slaughtering his Stormvermins one at a time. Within a span of a couple minutes, most of his warriors was gone, and the Host-leader jumped into the Sewer waters and fled the scene. Infuriated by his servants lack of conviction and courage, Thanqoul had no choice but to confront his puppet about the matter at hand. The Grey Seer went into the Chief Magistrates small mansion in the Noble Quater and entered his filing chamber. Von Halstadt wasn't too pleased by his presence, fearing that his servants might see him and attract unwanted attention to his dealings. But Thanquol was no fool, and he ensured the Magistrate that his servants were all asleep, a simple incantation he used. Relaxing his shoulders, the Chief Magistrate listened to what the Grey Seer had to say. Thanqoul explained the situation at hand, he told von Halstadt about the two warriors, and was concern that the Sewer Watch might be a danger to their associations. This gave Von Halstadt the desired effect Thanqoul wanted, and the Cheif Magistrate looked worried about this situation. Giving in, he gave Thanqouls word that they must die, and will have their Watch Captain interviewed. He also handed him a file concerning them. After reaching the Sewers, Thanqoul cursed himself for dealing with such a low-life surface dweller like von Halstadt. Yet he knew that he still needs him for the coming plans, and ordered his new Rat Ogre bodyguard, Boneripper to follow him to the suppose location of their prey. For several hours they waited, but the blond-furred man-thing has not shown up to his bedding. Getting impatient, Thanqoul decides to head back to the Cheif Magistrates office to descuss this inaccurate information. It was upon their entrace to the secret tunnel that Thanqoul found the door open. Extremely worried that the Sewer Jacks have found out about his plan, Thanqoul entered the doorway and his Rat Ogre pounced on an unexpecting Sewer Jack awaiting at the entrance. Suddenly, Thanqoul heard fighting coming from the Magistrates chambers and ordered his Rat Ogre to lead the way. After sprinting through the winding halls of the mansion, his bodyguard came into an erupt stop, with Thanqoul smacking snout first at the creatures massive back. Looking beside his bodyguard, he saw a very menacing looking Dwarf, with a hideously large axe. Thanqoul in reaction ordered his Rat Ogre to charge and kill him, the Dwarf still stood where he stands. Filled with momentary triumph, he watched as a ensuring slaughter began. But it was not the kind of slaughter he was thinking of, for at the very last second, the Dwarf raised his massive axe and clove the massive beast head in two. Fear gripped Thanqoul as he stood alone with the red-crested Dwarf. Thinking that evasion is the better part of valor, Thanqoul retreated back to the sewers to leave his puppet to his fate. The following days lead to Thanqoul to awnser for his erupt failure at instigating a Civil War between the two Imperial city's. Within his chamber, the magnificent Far-Squeaker was constructed to allow him to awsner to Seerlord Kristilik directly. At first, the communication was mostly static, and using this to his advantage he told his Master of great victories to come, only mentioning momentarily about the death of his puppet. But the Seerlord could not be fooled, and he simply turned a nob, and the screen was clear, and there his Master sat staring at Thanqoul evily. Fearing for his life, Thanqoul tried to find an excuse for his failures, but it was when the Seerlord told him that the plan has changed did Thanqoul relax his paranoia. The Seerlord said that the Invasion will start within a few week, and ordered Thanqoul to relinquish his command and aid Warlord Vermek Skab in his role as Supreme Commander. Deep inside, Thanqoul was bitter at this change of events, but he knew better then to anger the Seerlord. It was then that Thanqoul realize that the machine began to smoke and roar loudly then usual, and saw by the edge of his eyes, all his servants running away from his chamber. But the Seerlord told Thanqoul something that glued him to his seats. He told Thanqoul about a Man and Dwarf, their destiny's will be intertwined with his. It was before the last few words were spoken that the Far-Squeaker exploded, throwing Thanqoul off his stool and into the floor. Picking himself up from his feet, Thanqoul saw his servants return, and with a very imposing voice he ordered the Skavens to summon the Gutter Runners, and kill that Man and Dwarf, lest his Masters prediction become true. Unfortunately for Thanqoul, these two warriors have also managed to kill off the deadly assassin of Clan Eshin, and one of his greatest Assassin, and a pupil to Deathmaster Snitch himself. It took weeks to find his cowering assassin, but upon his discovery, Thanqoul dragged the shamed Assassin into the great gathering of the Skaven invasion force. There, Chang Squik, grovelled in the dirt, pilling excuses on how he was betrayed, how he had inexperienced Gutter Runners, how his enemies were forewarned, and worst of all how it was not his fault. The other War-leaders of Clan Skab and several other Clans stood with him, chittering and hiding their laughs behind mailed fists. He wanted to make the Assassin pay for his failure, but a direct approach might anger Deathmaster Snitch, and so with his brilliant cunning he found out a way to hurt the Assassins pride. Picking out the smallest and weakest of the Clan Skab war-leaders, Lurk Snitchtongue was singled out for his little expirement. The small war-leader had unwittingly insulted the Assassins pride, a thing that Lurk didn't notice until it was too late. Thanqoul gave a small grin at the situation, followed by a roar of laughter coming from the rest of the Skaven armies. Chang Squik threw dagger stares at the foolish Skaven. Luckily for Lurk, he managed to prelong his death by assisting in the death of the Man and Dwarf, a mission he is sure to not come back from. It was at that instant that a Skaven messenger approached the Grey Seer and handed him a letter. The letter was obviously read, as evident by the marks of hand prints and filth. Feeling this a good time to show the assembled army his power, he torched the messenger with unholy Warp energies, pealing off the flesh and skin of the Skaven until only bones remain. Then he read the messenge with a savage grin, knowing full well who had done this. WIth his most powerful voice, he told the assembled mass about the death of Vermek Skab, and how the command of the Invasion shall fall into his second-in-command....Thanqoul. Some of the War-leaders weren't soo keen on the idea, and each representative of the Great Clans stood up and deny his claim, as respectfully as possible, though hostile at each other. Only Thanqouls threat of bringing the Council of Thirteen into this argument silenced the representatives, making each one of them fight each other for the position of second-in-command. Thanqoul was pleased with the results. 'The Betrayal of the Great Clans and the final Battle of Nuln' In his chamber, Thanqoul sat and bask in the sunlight of his triumph as new commander. Unexpectingly, he notice a Skaven entered the chamber. Lurk Snitchtongue walked inside, and gave the Grey Seer some dire news. Apparently, Heskit One Eye, representative of Clan Skyre are planning an unexpected attack on Nuln's Engineers College. Enrage at this direct challenge to his command, he made a cunning plan to kill two birds with one stone. He wrote a letter forewarning about the attack to the most unlikely of pawns. Lurk was given orders to give this letter to Gotrek and Felix, hoping for them to twart his underlings plan before its too late. Thanqoul thought through all possible results, and found it fool-proof, either they kill Heskit or the duo, and at the best results even both. Thanqoul laids back and let his glorious plan unfold. At the next day, Thanqoul caught the young Engineer as he retreated back to the invasion camp, and presented his failure to the whole army, blaming him for nearly jeopardizing the whole invasion. The ending of the confrontation lead to Heskit returning to his burrow with his tail inbetween his legs. A very happy grin was in Thanqouls face the whole time. Unexpectingly, Lurk once more came into the chamber of Thanqoul with more dire news. Thanqoul had the temptations to blast the Skaven for barging in without him knowning, but the news he held swayed his hands. Again, another one of his underlings began another operations within the surface without the concern of Thanqoul. Vilebroth Null, representative of Clan Pestilen has brought up his cadre of Plague Priest and the Cauldron of the Thousand poxes into the city's graveyard to unleash the foul disease upon the populace of the city. Thanqoul wouldn't have minded the operation, except for the knowledge of how Clan Pestilens plagues would run wild and start killing off whole armies of his kind. Fearing the same catastrophe, he had no choice but to once more use the unwitting duo to his advantage. Once more the duo have prevailed, and have managed to stop the Plague Priest before they could unleash the full wrath of the plague. Thanqoul was particurally happy in his chambers, as piles upon piles of paper indicated the favour he is gaining as more troops were marching to his gathering legion of 10,000 Skaven warriors, the vast majority of which is contributed by Clan Skab. Once again, Lurk came into his chambers to tell the Grey Seer rumours about a secret operations being held by Clan Moulder. Lurk didn't have much infomation to offer, and so Thanqoul ordered him to find out more, giving him a considerable amount of Warpstone tokens from his own treasury. In the following days, Lurk came and gave Thanqoul his dire news. All he could learn was that Clan Moulder had a secret weapon that will bring the City to its knees, and it will begin tonight. Such a result shall bring Izak Grottle -- representative of Clan Moulder -- great prestigue for his exploits and will be rewarded handsomely by the Council, an outcome that Thanquol wants to greatly avoid. With all haste, he wrote once more to his arch-nemesis about this operations, hoping that they might catch them before its too late. Yet again they managed to do it, but at a grave cost. The very schemes that his rivals used against the city have back-fired upon the Skaven army. After nearly a week after the last rebellious incident, an unknown plague ravaged all of the warriors within the Invasion camp. This only worsen when an un-naturally large number of rats began to appear within a span of a few days, numbering in the thousands and eating nearly everything in sight. Thanqoul sat in his chambers, sulking at this unfortunate turn of events. All is going wrong, nearly all the supplies have been eaten, half the invasion force have died off, and he is slowly losing control of his army. Taking the initiative, Thanqoul began to assemble the 5,000 warriors still able to fight into formation, hoping to capture the city before his armies die off. Using the vast sewer networks as their main highway of transport, the army attacked the sleeping city in the dead of night, burning, pillaging, and killing all in their path. Grey Seer Thanquol took personal command of a few hundred Stormvermin into teleporting themselves into the palace of the Elector Count Emmanuelle herself. There the skaven forces killed and siezed all the nobility within the dancing hall of the palace. Unbeknowst to Thanquol, a trio of Skavens were trying to plot against them, as a result of learning about the treachery of Thanquol in aiding Gotrek and Felix in destroying their premature attacks on the city. Each of these Skavens were the leaders of the three attacks staged eariler in the invasion, and now they sought revenge. Using Thanquols own method against him, they told the duo of warriors where Thanquol was, and what he was planning to do. After the two fought against the Skaven forces invading the city, Felix read the note and lead a large crowd of militia and mercenaries into the palace of the city, killing all the Skavens that were in their way. Ironically, one of the trio of Skavens was killed by this mob, with another one of them being killed in an accident that he had created. The third one, the representative of Clan Moulder was the only one to escape. Amongst the slaughter, there were small engagements and street fighting all along the winding streets of the Poor Quarter, with militias and the city garrision putting up a tough fight against the invading forces, until finally horns began to be heard and the small Imperial army stationed at the Noble Quater began to rally and push the Skaven forces back. When the mob reached the palace and entered the main dancing hall, the duo was just in time to save the Countess from being killed by the Grey Seer. Aided by a hidden Imperial Wizard amongst the captured crowd, the duo was blessed by magical wards and was protected by the foul sorcery's of Thanquols staff. Squirting the musk of fear, the Grey Seer scurried away and escaped from the duo's grasp, leaving his whole army in disarray. With the Imperial armies and militias rallied, they began to systematically push back and kill off the remaining Skaven forces entreched within the city streets. In the aftermath, nearly half of the city was in ruins, but weeks later recontruction was in process, and the duo was given thanks for their aid against the Skavens. The Council of Thirteen was in great upheavel at this major lost of both money and troops, demanding Thanquol to awnser for his failures. Luckily for Thanquol, Seerlord Kristilik saved his pitiful hide by pointing out that Clan Skab (the main contributor to the invasion) was a traitrous clan who was rumoured to have been planning a revolt against the Council. With the Seerlords presuation, the other Council members reluctantly resign their accusations, and the Grey Seer's fur was saved by the Seerlord from utter anniliation. 'The Saviour of the Skaven City of Hell-Pit' With the Invasion in utter ruins, and a great amount of blood, bodies, and most importantly, money have been lost at this catastrophe, Grey Seer Thanqoul have lost a considerable amount of influence and grace from the Council of Thirteen for his failure at taking the man-city of Nuln. For many months he hid, trying every avenue available to him to find a way to reverse his misfortunes. Luckily, his prayers have been awnser once he caught word of an army of Dwarf retaking a small outpost from within a small back-water region within the Empire. Thanqoul was no fool, if the Dwarfs were to send an army towards a desolate place like this, something is up. Taking what little bits of wealth and influence Thanqoul still possess, he made haste to the outpost, making sure that those surivors from the attack would not squeak to anyone about his independent operations. Once reaching the area, Thanqoul used what little wealth he possess to hire out a small army, supported by a contingent of Stormvermins bearing the colours of of a local Clan. Promising future payments and favours to the Clan, Thanqoul had within his desposal a few hundred armoured Clanrats to used against the Dwarfs, but the Clan was no fool, and to ensure that the deal goes as promised, they sent Clawleader Grotz to escort him. On an elevated position just above the valley of the region, Thanqoul spied the encampment with his spyglass. The area the Dwarfs occupy was called the Lonely Tower, a small stone-walled fort, and an old but imposing tower at the centre of the structure. Spying through the encampment, he found the ghost of his past haunting him once more. There, as clear as day, he saw Felix Jaegar accompanying a group of Dwarfs into the camp. Fear gripped the Grey Seer, and he wouldn't believe it himself, making a second glance to ensure his worst nightmare was indeed there. He knew that if hes there, then the Dwarf Slayer was too. With haste, he mustered his host at the twilight of night, using the darkness to move his army within range of the valley edge. Lurk Snitchtongue was granted command of the first assault force, having been a favoured emmisary of Thanqoul for his aid in the Nuln campaign, unbeknownst to Thanqoul that Lurk was forced to aid the trio of Skavens who tried to undermine him. Leading the attack, the army surged through the canopy of trees and into the open valley below, charging head-first into the Dwarfs that were smithing and smelting just a few minutes ago. But the Dwarfs made pre-cautions, and a warning was made when a Dwarf sentry was hiding within the undergrowth. Just in time, the Dwarfs assembled within organized columns of infantry, forming a battle-line across the valley floor. The battle was long and bloody, though the Skavens outnumbered and out-armoured the ill-prepared Dwarven blacksmiths and engineers, the determination they have and the orginization they possess proved decisive in the battle-line. Not only that, but two Dwarf Slayers were slaughtering his forces apart, with one of them most likely being Gotrek. Thanqoul has also committed his new Rat Ogre bodyguard -- Boneripper, the second to bear the name -- into the fold. But to Thanqoul's surpise, this new Boneripper proved as pathetic as the last, having chased the fool Jaeger all around the battlefield only to have been blown up after eating a fused bomb mid-air. To make matters worst, the Dwarfs sent their aerial support into their war-efforts, with Gyrocopters dropping payloads of bombs onto the thick mass of Skaven troops. Within a span of about a few minutes of their appearce, the Skaven army retreated, leaving Thanqoul grovelling in utter defeat at the hands of his nemesis. Thanqoul however, ensured that he had a contingency plan, devised for just such an unlikely eventuality as this. With his mind and sorcerous power, he reached upon his servant Lurk Snitchtongue and communicated with the large warpstone communication artefact embedded into the War-leaders skull. The young skaven stalked through the wreckage of the battlefield after surviving the initial route that took many of his former comrades. With Thanqouls brilliant mind, Lurk was directed to where the Grey Seer wanted him to be, to uncover the secrets the Dwarves were making. It was after sneaking pass several patrols did Lurk reach the central structure of the encampment and there he saw it, with fear gripping at his very heart. With fangs as big as a man, and eyes as large as castle gates, Lurk believed himself looking at the face of a hideously large shark creature. Only after obersering the creature for several moments did he realise it was fake, and indeed the creatures face was in fact a giant baloon like airbag. Thanqoul saw great oppertunity with such a machine, and thoughts of capturing and recreating this wonderous machine flared through his mind, and tempted his greedy emotions. Ordering Lurk to infliltrate the airship, Thanqoul will try to gather support for his cause while also locating the exact location of the airships destination. After the following day, the airship set off, moving at leagues within a matter of hours. Thanqoul had to journey fast to the north, following the airship in hopes of not losing communication with Lurk. For many days Thanqoul travelled north, only stopping to change the Slave-rats carrying his palanquin along with his luggage. From Lurks latest report, he stated that the airship have already left the city of Middenhiem, moving through the waters of the Sea of Claws, until the lands below looked more empty and bleak. A very educated Skaven, Thanqoul knew that the airship is heading towards the ice-encrusted Kingdom of Kislev. With the only closest Clan within the vicinity of the human kingdom being the Clan Moulder city of Hell-pit, Thanqoul had no other option but to ask and hire their assistance, alteast ensuring that he dosen't let loose his plans of capturing the airship to the greedy Moulders. With a force of several hundred Stormvermin guards bearing the colours of Clan Moulder, the Grey Seer located the small outpost his servant Lurk had previously reported before the airship once more took off into the Chaos Waste of the north. With superior numbers and the aid of his sorcery, Thanqoul overcame the feebile outpost within a matter of hours, managing to defeat an Imperial Wizard in the event and capturing some prisoners to be used as bait for the airship. Once his prize was within his grasp, and all his forces were in hiding and taking positions within the ruins, Thanqoul began to commence his long-planned ambush. But his initial assault on the outpost was not subtle, and the ruins and smoke made Gotrek and Felix, along with Snorri Nosebitter another Dwarf Slayer to descended onto the Tower docks alone, expecting an ambush. As they descended, a host of the ratmen surged through the corridors of the tower, and started to fight the human and slayers. But Thanqoul was not pre-occupied by their struggles, but instead he gathered all of his sorcerous power, and with the aid of warpstone energy, he cast a spell of great potency to capture the airship. With tendirls of pure eldrich energy, Thanqouls spell grasp the airship around like a monstrous tentacle dragging down an Imperial warship. As he was occupied with his spell, Thanqoul was unable to aid the Skavens in stopping the Slayers from slaughtering his troops. Unbeknownst to him, another group of human prisoners managed to break free during the ensuring chaos and began to fight the Skavens at the rear. Worst yet, Gryrocopters from the airship began to lend aid in the assault. Realising this turn of events, Thanqoul began to fight back against the Dwarfs. Only incidentally did he become aware of something sticking to one of his tendrils. Only a brief moment past when he realised it was Lurk, hearing the ratmen squeal words of obedience and servitude if he would just save his life whilst also noticing a bizzare change in his physical appearance. Thinking to studing his servant further, he dropped Lurk not so slightly unto the ground below and resumed his fight against the Dwarfs. But in his moment of consideration, the airship began to lift off once more. Reaching out again, he tried to grasp at the airship when suddenly he notices the Human and Slayers moving in towards him. Using his incredible power, he tried to swat and kill the Slayers, but alas they proved too fast, and slowly but surely his power began to drain. It was finally when the Imperial Wizard from the battle before, began to wove a counter-spell that Thanqoul fully lost control of his magic, forcing the Grey Seer back into his physical body. Realization hit Thanqoul like a ton of bricks as he surveyed the scene all around him, Skaven bodies everywhere, the Wizard is still alive, and worst yet, Gotrek was only a few paces away from him. Fear gripped Thanqoul and in desperation he used a spell of teleportation to transport him far away from the maniac. Once touching ground once more, Thanqoul slumped in defeat at the hands of his nemesis. He was tired, his troops were dead, and his sorcery is at a low ebb, and worst yet, he couldn't find a way back to Skaven territory. It was during his strain of thoughts that a large monstrous shape loomed over the Grey Seer. With the size and muscle of a Rat-Ogre, horns as large as the Grey Seers, and a large spiked tail that grew well over a meter in lenght, he thought he was looking at the Horned Rat himself, coming to account for his failure. It was only after the creature spoke did he realize it was Lurk, changed drastically ever since coming back from the Waste. Expecting an explanation, Lurk told Thanqoul that pershaps we should tell it to you as they march. As they walked, Thanqoul knew Lurk was up to something, his eyes looked full of hunger and hate, his bulk moving every so slightly closer to Thanqouls. With great effort, Thanqoul woved a small greenish glow in his arm to show Lurk who is still leader here. Lurk backed down, and Thanqoul explained to him his plan of returning to the Underway. Not taking any chances he ordered Lurk to be in front, hoping that the monster would do anything drastic. For several days they walked, but no sooner had they come near their destination that a eriee wind began to course through Thqnouls fur. Thanqoul stood where he is, eyes wide, mouth open, breathing in the storms wind magical energy. Once more Lurk hungrily at Thanqoul, but only the greenish glow upon his eyes made Lurk think twice. The further these two ratmen walked, the further their rage and hatred towards each other intensifies. But their hate will pale in comparasion to the fear these two will face as the men of the north made claim. Far off in the distance, huge dusk emerge and the ground trembled as the iron-shobed hooves of a score of armoured Knights rode towards them. But these Knights were not from the weaker southern realm. No! These were the dreaded Chaos Knights of the Northern Waste! Outriders of an even larger army far far off in the distance. They surronded the two ratmen like wolves circling a lamb. Not even Lurks massive form could protect him from them, and the worthless swine threw himself headlong into the ground in utter terror. Fearing for his life, he used every inch of brilliance he possess to secure his safety. In desperation, Thanqoul made up a lie about him being a representative of the Council of Thirteen, coming towards the army as a sign of negotiaitons. Unimpressed, a rider simply charged at the Grey Seer lanced bared, but Thanqouls squeals of mercy and talks about cooperation with the army halted the rider. Trying every bit of knowledge he has to perserve his life, the riders began to bicker amongst themselves on what to do with the Grey Seer. It was finally decided that they will bring the Grey Seer to their leader, and so they grabbed Thanqoul and herded Lurk into the armys camp. At the heart of the massive army, Thanqoul was lead into the very center of the encampment, where a massive armoured Warlord sat in a chair of pure crystal, floating just a mere inch from the ground. Alongside him were his two powerful sorcerors. Thanqoul prostrated himself to them and explained his attempt at negotiaitons. But even the Warlord and his lackeys was not impressed, but they still found Thanqoul still useful to their cause and told him to go to the city of Hell Pit to relay their response. Before leaving, Thanqoul asked if they may have some Warpstone to spare. Luck once more showered upon him as the Sorceror gave Thanqoul a sphere of pure warpstone the size of his fist. After the talk, the Chaos Knights herded the two towards Hell Pits gate. At the gates of the crater, the riders left the Grey Seer. Thanqoul ordered his entrance, and after a few conversations, the Moulders allowed him entrance. There, they took his servant Lurk from him, to test and expirement on how he gotten his physical form. Thanqoul however was in the guest room, awaiting the Moulders response. Unexpectingly, Izak Grottle, former representative of Clan Moulder in the Nuln campaign came in and talked to Thanqoul about his business with the Clan. Giving the dire news to Grottle, the fat ratmen simply yawned and told Thanqoul that he will deliver this to his masters, leaving Thanqoul alone in his chambers, a prisoner of Clan Moulder. 'The Hell Pit Rebellion and the Battle of Hell Pit' Very long have Thanqoul waited for his release from this nightmare, hoping for a way to escape his captivity, but his deliverance came when an event began to occur within the city itself. The Master-Moulders of the city brought the Grey Seer into their chambers to use his sorcerous powers to see what Lurk is up to. His former servant had unexpectingly broke lose from his bondage and began to instigate a revolution within the more poorer and desperate of the Skaven populance. The rebellion grew nearly out of control, almost topling Clan Moulders grip on the city, with several hundred of their own troops changing sides and joining Lurks growing legions. Under Lurks leadership, the rebels managed to use their sheer weight of numbers and zeal to crush the majority of Clan Moulders resistance, taking over key facilities within the city and holding them off against any at all Moulder counter-attacks. In desperation, the Master-Moulders had no choice but to ask Thanqouls sorcery in their war-effort to save their city form utter destruction. Using his sorcerous power, and the aid of a glass magical orb, he managed to finally locate his former minion and easedrop on his planning. With the plan all but revealed to him, Thanqoul gave the details to the Moulder-Masters, and as a reward for his efforts, he escape captivity, and was given a group of Stormvermins to aid in the coming battles. With the plans revealed, the Moulders managed to counter each of Lurks attack, killing Skavens by the hundreds or even thousands within mere hours. All around was howling chaos, as hundreds of Moulders fought each other to the death, with Stormvermins hacking mericlessly at Slave-rats, whilst Clanrats are being devoured by the beast of Clan Moulder. Thanqoul on the other hand pushed his forces foward into the Warpstone Refinery where Lurk is currently hiding, hoping to get revenge on him, and also to grab some of the warpstone substances himself. However Lurk unexpectingly retreated from the city, having seen the rebellion as a lost cause after seeing how horriblely wrong everything went. Once the rebellion was crushed, Thanqoul was ordered to scout out the location of the Chaos army he previously mentioned, giving him a sack-full of the purest warpstone dust he'd ever seen, along with several thousand Clanrats and Stormvermins, spying on the massive horde in the deep cold snow of the Kislevite winter. His efforts proved fruitfull for not too long after making camp that Thanqoul saw a great battle unfold in front of him. Not too far away, he sensed a great unleashing of enormous magical energies. Curiosity got the better of him, and so Thanqoul used the following of magic to allow him to view the great battle from above where he was amazed and appalled at the sight. He saw the mighty hordes throw themselves at the walls of Praag, huge siege towers rose from the teeming armies, with masses of warriors and beast rumbling along with them. Soaring himself up for a better view, he saw that the attack was indeed a pincer movement, with the bulk of the army attacking the Gargoyle gate whilst a secondary army attacked the Eastern and Western gates. Many deamons died, one great siege tower toppled, the spells binding it unravelling. Finding the source of the power, he once more saw him. Gotrek stood in hte centre of the mystical conflagration, slaughtering all those that got in his way. Though hundreds of the northmen fell within a span of about a few minutes the relentless assualt continued and soon the Eastern gate fell as the defenders were routed. Soon nearly all the defenders in the walls retreated to the secondary walls, hoping to re-establish another fortified line, but the two heroes stayed their ground. Just only a mere minute later that a massive trebuchet launched a boulder that crashed into the walls, knocking Gotrek into the snow, a pool of blood emerging form his head. Thanqoul squealed in triumph, and prayed that indeed even Jaegar will suffer the same faith. But the Horned Rat had denied him this, for the young Felix ran to the Slayer and annonced that he still lives. Frustration gnawed at the Grey Seer, and soon he returned back to his physical form to find another way to end the miserable Slayers life. No sooner had he come back to his body that Izak Grottle reported that a Chaos army of several thousand began to march against thier own encampment. Thanqoul rose wearily from his trance and began to realize the sheer scale of the situation. Barking orders to his liutenents, he began to assemble the host for battle. On the flat cold plains of Kislev, wave after wave of Chaos Knights surged through the first Skaven battle-line, threatning to overcome even the elite Stormvermin infantry stationed at the front. More then twice Thanqoul had to throw sorcerory after sorceroy at the Northmen riders, turning their armour into blobs of melted steel before they could break through. The demonstration of magical energy Thanqoul unleashed has made the Moulder armies fight in feats of ferocity unprecidented by any Skaven army before them. Though many times he wanted to retreat, he knew the army needed him or else the Khornate warriors will trample them and him in the process. Source *''Gotrek and Felix: Skavenslayer (Novel)'' *''Gotrek and Felix: Deamonslayer (Novel)'' *''Gotrek and Felix: Beastslayer (Novel)'' *''Thanqoul and Boneripper: Grey Seer (Novel)'' *''Thanqoul and Boneripper: Temple of the Horned Rat (Novel)'' *''Thanqoul and Boneripper: Thanqouls Doom (Novel)'' Category:Skaven Category:Heroes